As a rule, artists publicly attacking critics is a bad look. You’ll never seem secure or justified in going after someone with way less power, especially if you have a slew of stans on social media ready to threaten and dox whoever you’ve put a target on. Paget Brewster just experienced this when she went after some poor, underpaid Screen Rant writer over a perfectly inoffensive and non-damning review of the latest Criminal Minds (she quickly apologized.) Now, Halsey is on the rampage, and she’s got a familiar figure in her sights.
Anthony Fantano, the self-described internet’s busiest music nerd, is probably the biggest name in music criticism on YouTube. His reviews tend to inspire a lot of, shall we say, feelings, and he’s frequently a target of more zealous fandoms, like the Swifties. In his review of The Great Impersonator, Halsey’s most recent album, he was pretty cruel. He described the work, which was inspired by her chronic health issues and fear she would die and leave her son without a mother, as overdramatic and a sign of “main character energy.” It was pretty sleazy, in my opinion, feeling more like a slam on the person than the music. And, frankly, it’s dumb to claim that a singer making songs about her personal experiences is “main character syndrome.” Dude, it’s her life!
Halsey’s feelings on this snide comment are certainly justified. But two years have passed since then and she’s still dragging Fantano. On Twitter, she retweeted him and said, “I’ certain my least memorable song will be remembered more fondly and for more time than anything you ever do with your life and will be. Everything you say is more “whiny” and “edgy” than I was at any point on that album. But at least I had the excuse of going through chemo.”
Halsey, truly, just log off.
I get her feelings, I really do, but this is a losing game. It’s corny and unbalanced and just reads as pure arrogance. This is Elon-level sh*t. I’m sure she still feels the sting of his weird digs, but nobody ever wins when the argument descends into “nee-naw, I’m better than you” shtick. It also just sets you up as a useful battering ram for the next scrum of stans who want to go after a critic when all they’ve done is offer an opinion. In the endless numbers game of online fandom fury, I guarantee that someone who loves a totally separate artist will invoke Halsey to attack the next reviewer who gives anything less than an 8.5 out of 10. No critic, not even those of us who are YouTube celebrities, have enough money or protection to deal with this crap. Alas, none of us have the power you all think we do, Halsey.
Remember, kids: Putting your phone away and going outside is always an option.
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